


roommates, best friends, girlfriends

by demonsorceress



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: College AU, College Roommates, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-02-20 04:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2415086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsorceress/pseuds/demonsorceress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma and Skye have been college roommates and best friends for years, and recently they’ve become best friends who also happen to make out quite frequently. And sleep together, hold hands, you know, the whole ordeal. (They know the word for that is “girlfriends”, but “best friends who also make out” is a much better definition.)<br/>A series of independent, fluffy short stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. single beds, lonely nights

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I'm writing the fluffiest of fluffy stories I can manage to make up for how emotionally wrecking the show has been.

"Jemma?"

Skye's voice pulls Jemma away from her half-asleep state. It takes her a moment to react, and Skye isn't much for waiting. "Jemma!" Skye whisper-shouts, still testing to see if Jemma is still awake but more urgently this time.

"Hey," Jemma replies. "What's wrong?"

Skye breathes a sigh of relief before hurrying down the ladder to get from the upper bunk bed to the ground. Jemma is startled by the sound of Skye's feet hitting the floor as she impatiently jumps from the ladder halfway through it.

"Jesus, Skye-" Jemma groans.

"Sorry," she mutters.

It's pitch black in their room, but Jemma knows Skye is closer by hearing her voice. What Jemma doesn't see coming is Skye joining her in her own bed out of nowhere. Skye quickly pulls the covers from over Jemma's body and slips under them as well, using her elbow and legs to force Jemma to scooch over in order to free up space for her.

"Bloody hell, what are you doing?" Jemma inquiries, sliding to her side and adjusting herself on the bed so that Skye isn't partially on top of her.

Once they're over moving here and there, Skye turns to Jemma, holding the blankets tightly around her body, and smirks sweetly. "Hi there," she whispers.

Jemma eyerolls, her lips threatening to curve into a smile. Feeling the warmth of Skye's body right next to hers is doing things to her. Also, Skye's playful smirk.

"Hello, Skye," Jemma says. "What brings you here?"

Skye furrows her brow in mock bemusement. "Since when do I need to explain my reasons for wanting to sleep with you?" Jemma snorts, and Skye quickly corrects herself. "I mean, literally just sleep with you. Though, if you wanted, I wouldn't be opposed to-"

"I get it," Jemma chuckles. "So you were lonely up there,” she teases.

Skye exhales loudly. "I wish our room had normal, single beds, so we could pull them together and make one bigger bed for the both of us."

Jemma thinks about being able to sleep cuddled up with Skye every day in something bigger than their bunk beds, and she likes how that sounds, but she can't miss the opportunity: "Lord, no, I wouldn't be able to put up with you kicking me all night long.”

Skye hisses and lightly kicks Jemma's ankle. "Take that back.”

Jemma holds her breath when she feels Skye's fingers brushing against her stomach, lifting the hem of her pajama shirt. Considering they’ve been dating for several months now, it’s pathetic that Skye’s touch still feels like it’s sending electric shocks through Jemma’s skin.

"Don't," Jemma chides, but when Skye's hand grips her waist, Jemma unwittingly leans into Skye's touch and lets her girlfriend press her lips softly against her own. They move closer to each other as they kiss, their bodies pressed flush together, Jemma brushing Skye's hair behind her ear and then gently cupping the side of her face.

"Skye," Jemma whispers in between kisses. Skye kisses her one last time and makes it a long one before pulling away slowly, their noses brushing against one another. "Sleep?" Skye asks.

"Sleep," Jemma agrees, breathless.

Jemma rolls over to her other side and Skye wraps an arm around Jemma's waist. Jemma can feel Skye's hot breaths tickling the skin of the back of her neck, and Skye plants a couple of sweet kisses there before grappling the sheets and pulling them over the two of them again.

At first Jemma can see why Skye wishes they could sleep like this everyday, and she does as well, but a few hours later she remembers why it's partially a good thing that they can't. (She wasn’t merely joking about Skye’s kicking problem.)

 


	2. we're bigger than we ever dreamed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Jemma have a song. Apparently. Jemma had no idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos and comments, I really appreciate it! I hope you like this one as well :)

“Do you hear that?” Skye stops abruptly.

The sun is starting to set as the Saturday afternoon approaches its end, and Skye and Jemma are walking through campus on their way back to their dorm from the coffee shop. Not that they saw much of the day except for the view from the window in their room, though; they've been locked up all day studying for their respective midterm exams, so the idea of going out to take a walk and grab some coffee couldn’t have been better timed.

“What?” Jemma asks, confused.

Skye is tilting her head and apparently trying to find where a certain sound is coming from, until she spots a group of students hanging out by a tall tree on the lawn they’re walking by. One of them has a small speaker connected to an iPod, playing a familiar song.

"It's our song," Skye says excitedly. "Awww," she pouts as she looks at Jemma with what can only be described as heart eyes. Jemma squints, with no idea of what’s happening.

"How in hell is _Royals_ 'our song'?" She snorts. "It is annoying."

"You love Lorde!" Skye argues.

"I do," Jemma confirms. "Which is precisely why I know that every single one of her other songs is better than _Royals_. And it bothers me that it's her most famous one, I mean, there's-"

" _Royals_ is so catchy, though," Skye cuts her off before Jemma starts ranting again about what Lorde songs should've made her famous rather than _Royals_. "And it brings me nice memories."

"Would you care to enlighten me as to why _Royals_ is our song?" Jemma repeats her question impatiently. "Did we ever agree to this and I don't remember? I don't think-"

"God, Jemma, couples can't just pick a certain song to be their song, it's gotta be one that played in a remarkable moment of their relationship so that it's emotionally meaningful to them." Skye explains, gesturing with her hands as if the concept of a couple's "song" and the rules for it to be chosen were defined years ago by experts and Jemma should know that.

Jemma furrows her brows, genuinely concerned. "Am I a terrible girlfriend for having no clue as to what remarkable moment you're referring to?"

Skye sneaks a glance at Jemma as they keep walking and bites her lip. "Friday night. Your car. After our first date. We were making out. The radio was turned on." Skye hesitates thoughtfully before joking, "So were I."

Jemma nearly chokes on her coffee. "Oh, yes. I remember that… Clearly.”

That day was, indeed, remarkable. After a couple of agonizing months where they both started acknowledging that their feelings for each other ran deeper than friendship, but refused to do anything about it, Skye asked Jemma out on a date. And, just like that, even though the date itself was kind of a huge failure, in the end of the night they were making out in Jemma's car. To the sound of _Royals_ , apparently.

"If you remembered it clearly you'd know why _Royals_ is our song," Skye teases, trying to come off a bit offended, but the memory of that day still has her struggling to contain a smirk.

"Alright, do I even get a say on this?" Jemma pleads. "Because, first of all, I'm pretty sure the radio wasn't playing _Royals_ on repeat during the entire time we were there."

Skye wrinkles her nose. "Point taken, but I don't remember any of the other songs that played, so one day we can talk about an entire playlist but right now you're gonna have to settle for _Royals_." Jemma makes a non-committal noise. "And no, you don't get a say on this because you don't remember the soundtrack of our first make out session at all."

Jemma raises her eyebrows. "Well, I was focused on other things rather than paying attention to the music," she snaps.

Skye laughs. Touché. "I'm assuming that by 'other things' you mean my lips, so I guess you're off the hook. For now."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mentioned first date that was kind of a failure? You'll know more about that in the next chapter ;)


	3. the morning after

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback to the morning following Skye and Jemma’s first date… if that failure can even be called a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Did the title make you expect another kind of "morning after"? Not this time. Don't lose hope, though!)

Jemma has always been a light sleeper; immediately after the alarm clock goes off, she wakes up and turns it off in the blink of an eye. Skye, on the other hand, could probably sleep through a bomb explosion and wake up hours later with no idea that something even happened, which is why she relies on Jemma to shake her awake every morning before class.

That day, though, when Jemma peers up at the upper bunk bed to wake up her roommate, Skye isn’t there. This is strange. She rarely ever needs to leave before Jemma; when she does, she tells her friend beforehand, and Jemma ends up being startled awake anyway by the absurdly loud alarm clock on Skye’s phone. How did Skye manage to leave silently enough? And, more importantly, why did she do so?

Jemma worries that something might have happened. She checks her phone for any texts from Skye, but there’s nothing. Less than ten minutes later, however, Skye proves Jemma’s concerns were unfounded as she enters the room holding two cups of coffee. "Good morning," she says cheerfully, a bright smile crossing her lips.

Jemma feels her heart thump against her chest as she remembers how it felt to have Skye’s lips pressed against hers. Last night was… surprisingly incredible. Not that Jemma is surprised Skye is a great kisser; she’s surprised they even made out at all after how terribly their date went.

“Good morning, Skye," Jemma replies, her heart racing a bit as she steps closer to her friend. Skye offers her one of the cups and she picks it up, only to notice that the rushed handwriting of the coffee shop barista reads "Gem".

Skye catches the hint of a smile playing on Jemma’s lips as she looks at the name. “I’m pretty sure they do it on purpose," she laughs, “but I can’t deny it suits you well."

There it is. That familiar tug in Jemma’s chest. The one she probably wouldn’t have felt months ago, back when she and Skye were nothing more than best friends. Back before things changed, when Skye somehow randomly complimenting her didn’t affect her heart rate drastically. Jemma looks down to avoid Skye’s gaze, suddenly very interested in the cup of coffee. She takes a sip in a weak attempt at hiding the sheepish grin that’s threatening to spread across her face.

"So," Jemma starts, “is this the beginning of your transformation into a morning person?"

Skye lets out a sarcastic chuckle. “Trust me, this is a one-time kind of thing," she says, sitting on the edge of Jemma’s bed. "I don’t know, I thought I’d get us coffee earlier so that we’d have some extra time to talk."

Jemma’s answer is something about as eloquent as "hmm". Skye wants to talk; she specifically got up earlier to save them the time they take stopping by the coffee shop before class, and use it to have a conversation.

Jemma has a pretty good idea what she wants to talk about. She places her cup on the bedside table and sits next to Skye, fidgeting apprehensively with her nails. Skye finishes her coffee and puts her empty cup on the table as well.

"So, um…" Jemma tries to bring up the topic. "Last night was-"

"Weird," Skye blurts out with a dry chuckle, and Jemma furrows her brow.

"What? No, I was-" She looks up to meet Skye’s gaze. "I was going to say nice."

Skye is caught off guard. She raises her eyebrows and makes a non-committal noise. “We should be more specific,” she suggests. “The part where you kissed the breath out of me in your car was really nice."

Jemma worries her lip between her teeth. Her heart hammers in her chest, way too eager to kiss Skye again. She has no idea how this happened.

“I meant the part before that,” Skye explains.

“Oh, yes, the date.”

Skye sighs. “You know what? It wouldn’t have been weird if we hadn’t called it a ‘date’ so much.”

Jemma knows she’s right. She had plenty of time to think about this while turning and tossing in bed once they came back last night.

They had been to the same place before several times, just like they always go out together. Last night was supposed to be just one more of these usual occasions, two best friends hanging out, except they called it a date and suddenly there was nothing usual about it anymore.

This weird thing had been going on for a couple of months, this period of transition where they were no longer sure they wanted to be just friends anymore. It got gradually weirder, catching them both by surprise whenever things that used to be so natural such as hugs begun to unleash a rush of feelings they didn’t know were there. This eventually led up to the point where Skye blatantly asked Jemma out on a date. It took her all the courage she could muster and she was clearly anxious when she told Jemma, “Let’s be honest, we both know there’s something going on here. I think we could… at least give it a try. If you want.”

Jemma didn’t hesitate to say yes. She wanted to give it a try, whatever it was, and she wanted it to work. So did Skye. At first Jemma didn’t know how badly they both secretly wanted that. None of them was even sure of what it was in the first place. Once the date had happened, however, that was pretty clear.

With her mind clearer than it was before—too filled with unspoken questions and nerve-wrecking possibilities to be rational—Jemma realized that they ruined the date themselves as soon as they decided on it. Calling it a “date” brought an unexpected amount of pressure into it, and made them react as if that one night was supposed to be the entire transition from friends to more than friends, whereas it was nothing more than the end of an ongoing process. It was merely the consolidation of something that they were both aware of, the noticeable change in their relationship.

First dates are usually where you get to know your partner, but Skye and Jemma already knew each other better than anyone. They’re best friends; they’d already gone through all the other parts of a typical first date long ago. In fact, all the other sentimental aspects of a relationship had been crossed off; they were already as close as it gets, there was no way they could achieve a somewhat higher level of emotional intimacy by taking their relationship to a romantic level.

The night would’ve gone smoother if the two of them had simply gone out together like they always do. And then kissed.

"We were stupid," Jemma states.

Skye reaches for Jemma’s hand and gently clutches it between her own hands. “I have an idea,” she says, slowly leaning closer to Jemma with a sheepish grin on her face.

Thanks to the dangerously small distance keeping them from kissing again, Jemma no longer has much control over what she says or does whatsoever. She just bites her lip and mumbles, “Tell me about it.”

Skye lets go of Jemma’s hand and for a moment Jemma looks like a lost puppy, unsure of what she’s doing, until Skye wraps her arms around Jemma’s neck and her lips approach Jemma’s ear.

"We could forget that miserable attempt at having a date even happened," Skye proposes. "And start over."

Jemma laughs softly, Skye’s warm breaths tickling against her skin as she speaks. It’s intoxicating. “We should stop trying to set up proper dates”, Jemma adds. “Whatever happens, happens, and we stop overthinking everything.”

"Whatever happens, happens," Skye repeats thoughtfully. "Sounds cool. Does this mean I can kiss you whenever I feel like it?"

"I suppose," Jemma replies. "If you want."

Jemma doesn’t wait for Skye to kiss her, though. When Skye turns to face her and their lips brush together, she’s the one who leans in. Skye gently cups Jemma’s face in her hands while Jemma’s hands lose themselves in Skye’s hair. Jemma feels her heart pound erratically like it’s about to burst. If this is going to start happening frequently from now on, Jemma should probably make an effort not to look like a breathless puppy by the time their lips split apart.

"I’m not sure I even know when I started wanting to kiss you so bad," Skye starts, her forehead pressed against Jemma’s while she gently rubs her thumb on Jemma’s cheek. "But I can’t say I mind it now.”

Jemma presses a few quick kisses to Skye’s lips before pulling her in for another long one. She thinks that works better than words to make sure Skye knows she feels the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! The next chapter is going to be the longest one yet—nearly 3k words long. Also, it features dad!Coulson, plus Ward, Fitz and Trip. ;)


	4. later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Skye's birthday and she was excited to spend it with her girlfriend, but it turns out Jemma seems to have made plans already. With science.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me longer than usual to post this chapter, I'm having a bit of a writer's block this week. On the other hand this chapter is also longer than usual, so I hope you like it!

It’s been only a few years since Skye started actually enjoying her birthday. The first time she had a nice one was on her first year living with Coulson. Before that, she'd either spent them at the St. Agnes Orphanage, where the date was barely even acknowledged, or at a foster house where no one could possibly care less about it.

Coulson, however, knew it was her birthday beforehand thanks to her documents, which was already more than any of her previous foster parents ever bothered to do. Not only did he get her a lovely gift and a delicious cake—he even made her blow the candles for him to take a picture and everything—, he also asked for a day off at work so that he could spend the day with her. They went to the movies together and ate fast food afterwards, and by the time they were stealing fries from each other and laughing as they remembered the jokes from the comedy movie, Skye was so happy she felt like she could burst. That day pretty much consolidated that, despite her realistically low expectations and refusal to hope for the best in order to avoid being disappointed, her life wouldn't go back to being miserable now that she had Coulson. The realization of that brought a couple of tears to Skye's eyes when she went to bed that day.

It's Skye's birthday again today, and it should be a special one as well because, even though Jemma was there on her past couple of birthdays as well, they weren't dating back then. Not that this changes a lot, but Skye is excited regardless.

Her excitement, however, is put on hold when she wakes up and sees that Jemma is already up, standing by their desk quickly stuffing things into her bag and fully ready to leave, rather than on her own bed, kissing Skye awake.

"What are you doing," Skye mumbles groggily. "What time is it?"

Jemma seems startled by Skye's voice as she spins around quickly and smiles. "Oh, good morning," she says, picking up her bag and her coat. Skye furrows her brow. "I'm leaving earlier because I need to do start working on something important before class," Jemma says quickly, stepping closer to her bed to press a sweet kiss to Skye's forehead. "See you later!"

And with that, Jemma rushes out of the room, closing the door behind her. Skye just stares at it, baffled. No way, Jemma can't have forgotten. Yesterday she mentioned something about an important biology project or whatever, she's probably just in way over her head right now. Skye knows how worked up her girlfriend can get over academic stuff. Skye tries not to overthink that as she gets ready to go to class as well. Jemma would never forget her birthday.

* * *

By lunch, Skye is pretty sure Jemma has in fact forgotten her birthday. She checks her phone every five minutes throughout the morning; no texts, no missed calls, nothing from Jemma. They usually eat lunch together whenever possible, but when Skye tries to call her girlfriend, the response is short, almost unbelievably so: "Sorry Skye, I won't be able to stop for lunch today, I'll just eat something quick here, alright?" Skye says it's alright, of course, and Jemma promises she'll call later before hanging up.

Skye swallows the lump in her throat as she shoves her phone back into her bag.

* * *

As soon as Grant spots Skye walking through campus from a building to another, he literally runs towards her and captures her in a bear hug. (The term "bear hug" doesn't sound as concerning as it should unless you're aware that Grant is a 6'2'' tall athletic guy.) Skye gasps and pretends to be choking as he embraces her so tightly that for a moment her feet dangle above the ground.

"You've grown up so much, and yet you're still so tiny," he says, putting her back on her feet. "How are you feeling?"

Skye furrows her brows. "...normal?" She answers, and he doesn't seem satisfied. "Older?" She tries.

He shakes his head dismissively with a laugh. "Happy birthday, Skye."

"Thank you, Warm," she smirks. It's been ages since she used to call him Warm all the time, a nickname created ironically because he isn't exactly the warmest of friends unless someone is able to bring smiling, bear-hugging Grant out of "call me Ward" Grant.

(So far, a total of four people have managed to do that: Fitz, Skye, Jemma and Trip. And a few dogs too.)

Grant eyerolls and Skye playfully pats his head like a puppy. "So," he starts, "Boiler Room later, right?"

Skye wrinkles her nose in uncertainty. Yesterday, she wouldn't have hesitated to answer this question. "I don't know... Let me talk to Jemma first."

Grant narrows his eyes. "I've barely even talked to her all day," Skye explains, exhaling deeply. "She's super busy with a project or something."

"Oh, right, Fitz told me about that," Grant comments, and Skye is embarrassed of the relief that floods her upon finding out they are really working on a project. Not that she'd ever doubt Jemma, but she had to admit it felt a lot like Jemma's been avoiding her all day long for some reason. Skye would've been okay with not talking to her throughout the day in other circumstances, but it's different today. It's Skye's birthday, and Jemma apparently forgot about it.

Skye doesn't mention to Grant that Jemma hasn't even shown a hint of remembering her birthday, though. She doesn't want to talk about it, nor jump to conclusions before the day is over. Regardless of how much it seems like her guess is right.

"Alright then, call me when you decide what you're doing tonight."

* * *

Skye has just gotten back to her dorm room after her last class of the day, and she's laying on Jemma's lower bunk bed fidgeting with her nails and doing nothing at all when her phone rings. She sees the picture of Jemma on the screen and stiffens. On the picture, Jemma has a silly grin on her face, and Skye just looks at it for a moment before picking up the call.

"Hey," Jemma starts. "Just so you know, me and Fitz aren't even close to done with the project, so I suppose we'll be in the library until much later today."

Skye is speechless, head hanging low. What could she do? Jemma has more important things to worry about, she tells herself.

"Okay, I'll see you later then." Skye hangs up before Jemma says anything else, and so it hits her she's a bit more upset about this than she thought. Can she really blame herself, though? It's her birthday. She just wishes she could spend it with Jemma.

She pulls her notebook out of her bag and turns it on. It's around 6PM, Coulson should be able to talk. She opens Skype and calls him, and he accepts the call almost immediately; he's on his office sitting in front of the computer, and a big smile crosses his lips as soon as he sees Skye.

He wishes her the happiest of birthdays and says all that stuff that dads say on birthdays, telling her she deserves all the best in the world and she's a wonderful daughter and he's glad he's a part of her life. Skye smiles shyly and thanks him multiple times before he gets overly emotional. (She knows he can get really emotional.)

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there today," he apologizes. "I'll go pick you up on the weekend so that we can celebrate properly. Your gift is already waiting for you at home," he adds with a playful smirk, very well aware of how curious she'll be until the weekend arrives.

"Okay, how many bottles of vodka did you buy me?" She jokes, and his happy expression promptly fades away, a serious frown taking its place.

"Don't be silly," he says. "You're like, twelve."

Skye can't stop the warm grin that spreads across her face. That's a running joke between them, ever since this one time she teased him with questions that made him really uncomfortable and he desperately blurted out "you're like twelve years old!" for the first time; she laughed so hard he started saying it whenever she mentions something vaguely "inadequate” for children to make her laugh.

“May sent you her best wishes too. I told her it’s your birthday,” Coulson remarks. “Actually, I think I may have told everyone at work it’s your birthday.”

Skye rolls her eyes and laughs at him, not surprised at all. And yes, he’s talking about the Melinda May. Believe it or not, she and Coulson have been close friends and co-workers for longer than Skye’s been alive. Skye met her a couple of times and it was really hard to keep her cool.

“Where’s Jemma?” Coulson leans closer to the computer as if that would somehow give him a larger view of Skye’s room. She snorts. Dads.

Skye looks down and brushes her hair behind her ear. “Too busy with science,” she answers dryly.

Coulson seems concerned. He likes Jemma so much it’s ridiculous; every time they’re talking on Skype Jemma ends up joining Skye and endlessly amusing Coulson with her cuteness. Skye remembers the day she told him she and Jemma were dating, and he couldn’t have been happier that she was in a relationship with her sweet best friend rather than with some unknown  guy older than her whom he’d have to put the fear of god into. (No, seriously, he did in fact express how grateful he was for that.)

“Did something happen between you two?”

She shrugs. “No, not really, it’s just…” Then again, she doesn’t want to accuse Jemma of forgetting her birthday already. “She’s been working hard on this project all day so I haven’t seen her for more than two minutes yet.”

“I’m sure you two can celebrate together later,” Coulson tries to comfort her but it doesn’t come off exactly like he expects and Skye can’t help but shriek. “Oh, god,” he gasps, “I mean- not like that. Jesus. Children these days!"

* * *

"Are you ready?" Grant asks as soon as Skye picks up his call.

"For what?" She asks impatiently.

"Boiler Room, you moron," Grant answers. "C'mon, we don't need to wait for Jemma and Fitz.”

Skye hesitates. "Actually, I'd rather-"

"I don't care," he interrupts. "Be ready in 20 or I'll drag you there in whatever you're wearing right now." Skye sighs out loud. "Trip will be there soon with his pals too. Jemma and Fitz can meet us all when they're done."

His idea is a good one, to be honest. Skye won't be in her room sulking like a whiny baby until Jemma comes back from the library. Maybe she should just go to the club with Grant and Trip and get drunk off her ass. At least the alcohol will make it easier to deal with Jemma forgetting her birthday. Probably.

"Alright, alright," Skye says reluctantly. "Give me 15."

* * *

They’re about to enter the Boiler Room, and Skye can’t hear a sound. The loud music that’s always blasting through the thick walls isn’t there this time. Other than the lack of music, though, there’s nothing that sets the mood apart from any other regular evening at the Boiler Room; from the outside, it’s still dark, completely closed and doesn’t look like a club at all.

Skye and Grant share a puzzled look. “It’s weirdly silent here,” Skye says even though he’s clearly noticed it himself. “Could it be closed?”

Grant arches an eyebrow. “I didn’t even know the Boiler Room ever closed,” he replies in disbelief.

Skye didn’t either. Of course this would only happen on her birthday. Just her luck.

Just to be sure, Skye tries to push the heavy metal door open, and surprisingly, it slides open immediately. Inside, utter darkness and silence. So this is what the Boiler Room looks like without the blaring loud music, flickering lights and crowds of students dancing and drinking.

Right when she’s about to turn back and curse Grant for making her get dressed up for nothing, though, all the bright lights suddenly light up the club at once, revealing a huge group of people jumping from behind the chair as tables, as they yell together, sending shivers down Skye’s spine, “SURPRISE!”

Skye nearly jumps out of her skin. Eyes wide, she drops her chin and covers her mouth so quickly she basically slaps her own face. She blinks away a couple of tears forming on the corners of her eyes. The place is full of black and white balloons, and there’s an enormous banner hanging across the length the bar that reads “happy birthday, Skye!”. In the middle of the club, Skye spots Jemma behind a table with a gorgeous birthday cake, Fitz and Trip beside her. Fitz has his hands on his waist and satisfied grin on his lips, much like Trip's usual charming smile. Jemma smiles expectantly at her.

Skye feels her heart clench in her chest and it takes away her breath in a way that she can’t utter a single word. She shakes her head in disbelief and laughs like a child as she strides towards Jemma and her girlfriend captures her in the tightest of embraces. “Holy shit,” Skye mutters in between her ragged breaths.

“Happy birthday,” Jemma says before their lips meet. “At last.”

Honestly at this point Skye just wants to stay where she is, with Jemma’s arms around her and her head resting against the crook of Skye’s neck, for the next couple of hours or so, but their moment is interrupted by everyone in the club singing “Happy Birthday” to her. Skye’s cheeks flush and she gets a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watches the insane amount of people around her clapping and singing. She knows about half of them from college and her classes, and the other half are just students that were probably hanging out in the Boiler Room beforehand and were likely asked to be quiet for a minute, sing happy birthday to this unknown girl that’s coming and then go back to normal.

Jemma’s arm remains on Skye’s waist as Skye bends down to blow the candles and everyone claps enthusiastically. There’s also a small cup of something alcoholic next to the cake on the table, and the claps are even more enthusiastic when Skye downs it all at once. Trip cheers frantically, probably not 100% sober at this point. The shot was her favorite brand of tequila; her friends do know her well.

As soon as they have the chance, Fitz and Trip pull Skye into a breathtaking hug, and she shares hugs with most of the colleagues that are closest to the table as well and thanks them for the birthday wishes and for being here. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes for the Boiler Room to go back to being the regular club it always was, and Skye, Jemma, Fitz, Grant and Trip take seats around a table and order a round of drinks.

The first thing Skye says when the five of them are sitting together is, “Now tell me, how did Jemma manage to hide this from me the entire day?”

They all laugh, and Fitz is the first to answer. “The trick was reducing the contact you two had to the very minimum,” he explains. “And even then I had to babysit her all day to make sure she wasn’t going to call you and ruin everything. She felt so bad she wanted to give up and tell you everything at some point.”

“When I called her to say I’d be in the library and she hung up on me,” Jemma admits, a blush creeping up her cheeks. Skye bites her lip; the night has only just started and she already can’t wait to be alone with Jemma later. “I felt like the worst girlfriend in the world.”

Trip cackles. “You’re weak,” he jokes. “The three of us took care of basically everything, your only task was pretending you forgot it was her birthday.”

“Listen,” Grant starts and Skye already knows she’s about to be mocked. “I can guarantee you Jemma would’ve ruined the plan if she’d seen Skye earlier today.” Skye facepalms, utterly embarrassed. “When I saw her she was inconsolable.”

“Shut up,” Skye pleads even though he’s telling the truth. The guys laugh hysterically, but Jemma just lets out an “awww” and reaches for Skye’s thigh beneath the table, rubbing it softly. Skye places her hand above Jemma’s.

“This was not my idea at all,” Jemma defends herself, clearly feeling the need to apologize for pretending to forget Skye’s birthday all day long. “They planned it and made me lie to you and I was not comfortable with it!”

“You did a good job, though,” Skye tells her. Of course she did, otherwise Skye wouldn’t have been as pathetically broody as she was during the day.

“I’m glad Jemma was convincible in the least, because what you didn’t see was her complaining over and over again that you were going to break up with her,” Fitz retorts.

“Oh my god, I would never,” Skye assures her, and Jemma leans in to press a kiss to her lips. Skye doesn’t need to look at Fitz to know he’s eye rolling, and she couldn’t care less about the audience as she deepens the kiss. “Don’t do this again, though,” Skye asks, glaring at the three boys as well. “Next year you can throw me a regular party, no need to make me blame science projects for my girlfriend forgetting my birthday.”

They all laugh. “Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you for reading and for all the sweet comments :)

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this story, please tell me about it somehow, through the comments down here or through my tumblr (jemmadanvers) askbox (on anon if you prefer!). Thank you for reading :)


End file.
